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These keto bagels are chewy and dense in the middle and have a tender crust, they taste like the real thing! Made with just 5 ingredients, these have no yeast in them!
Love keto bread recipes? Try my keto bread, keto buns, and keto rolls next.
You’ve come to the right place if you are after the best-tasting low-carb bagels.
It’s no secret that when it comes to low carb bread, I’m quite the expert with tons of tried and tested varieties up my sleeve. These bagels are up there too.
There are so many keto bagel recipes out there, but none of them come close to achieving the texture of a traditional wheat-based bagel. This one, however, is the real deal.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- No resting time. It takes less than 15 minutes to bake.
- Best texture and flavor. The bagels are chewy in the middle and have a light yet dense crumb. There is no eggy, cheesy, or any weird taste (thanks to the fathead dough).
- Easy to customize. Like any good bagel, you can add your favorite toppings, seasonings, and/or herbs.
What are keto bagels made of?
As mentioned earlier, this recipe calls for just 5 simple ingredients. Here is what you’ll need:
- Almond flour. Blanched almond flour or superfine almond flour, not almond meal. The former two will yield a light and tender crumb.
- Baking powder. Gives the bagels some rise and fluffiness.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese. Low-moisture mozzarella cheese is best, as it will yield a more chewy bagel with a golden exterior. I’ve tested it with other kinds of mozzarella, and they were decent.
- Cream cheese. Full-fat cream cheese, NOT reduced-fat varieties.
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs. You can also add an extra egg yolk to be used as an egg wash.
- Toppings. Everything but the bagel seasoning, garlic powder, sesame seeds etc.
How to make low carb bagels
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prepare the ingredients. Start by whisking together the almond flour and baking powder in a small bowl then set it aside. Next, add the mozzarella cheese and softened cream cheese to a microwave-safe bowl. Melt the two cheeses together in 20-second spurts, stirring each time, until they both are mostly melted. Whisk them together until combined and smooth.
Step 2- Process the dough. Next, let the cheese mixture cool slightly, before transferring them into a food processor. Add two of the eggs and dry ingredients and pulse everything together until a smooth and sticky dough remains.
Step 3- Shape into bagels. Now, sprinkle some almond flour onto a flat kitchen surface. Using lightly wet hands, transfer the dough onto it divide it into 8 portions. Roll out the dough then join them at the sides to form a bagel shape. Place them on a lined baking sheet and whisk the remaining egg. Brush the top of each bagel with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Step 4- Bake the bagels. Finally, bake the bagels for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the bagels to cool before slicing, toasting, and serving. Use them for keto breakfast sandwiches,
Arman’s recipe tips
- If your stand mixer has a dough blade attachment, use that to pulse everything together for a more uniform dough. It’s much easier than mixing by hand.
- Do not microwave the cheeses all at once– you must do them in 20-second spurts. This ensures they don’t burn or overcook and be pliable enough to form the dough. No microwave? I find the double boiler method to be the next best option, but be sure to keep mixing.
- The egg wash is optional, but it gives the bagels a golden crust and holds the toppings better. You can also try melted butter.
- Use a donut pan for uniform-size bagels. Add the batter to a ziplock bag and pipe it in.
Flavor Variations
While delicious on its own, here are flavor ideas to add on top. Personally, I love them with some almond butter, keto jam, or homemade Nutella on top!
- Asiago. Also known as cheese bagels! Fold through 1/4 cup of shredded cheese into the dough, and sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese before baking.
- Poppy seed. Sprinkle the tops of the bagels with poppy seeds.
- Cinnamon Raisin. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon into the dough, and fold through 2-3 tablespoons of raisins.
- Sesame. Simple and classic- Add toasted sesame seeds on top.
- Onion bagels. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and add onion powder and onion flakes to it. Top the bagels with coarse sea salt, onion flakes, and sesame seeds.
- Everything. Add everything but the bagel seasoning over the tops of the bagels.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover bagels are best to be stored in the refrigerator, in a sealed container. They will keep well for up to 5 days.
To freeze: Place the bagels in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
To reheat: Microwave for 30 seconds, before slicing in half and toasting in a toaster.
Frequently Asked Questions
This particular keto bagel recipe contains 175 calories per bagel. Compared to a traditional bagel which yields at least 300 calories, they are not just low carb but also low calorie!
Low carb bagels have 2 grams net carbs per bagel.
More keto bread recipes to make
Perfect Keto Bagels
Video
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 3 large eggs divided
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the almond flour and baking powder and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, add the mozzarella cheese and cream cheese. Microwave them together in 30-second spurts, until mostly melted. Whisk them together until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture into a food processor, along with two of the eggs and dry ingredients, and pulse until smooth.
- Lightly flour a kitchen surface with some almond flour. Transfer the dough onto it and divide it into eight equal portions. Roll out each piece of dough into a thin, sausage shape. Connect the sides to form bagels.
- Place the bagels onto the lined baking sheet. Whisk the third egg in a small bowl then brush it over the tops of each bagel, then sprinkle your toppings of choice. Bake the bagels for 12-15 minutes, until firm and golden on top.
- Remove the bagels from the oven and let them cool completely, before slicing and serving.
This took a little tweaking when i sized up the quantities but once i had the right dough consistency these were great! Thanks for sharing Arman
OMG! BEST BAGELS AND GLUTEN FREE!!!!
Ok. I was skeptical. But this is a serious game changer. Wow. So so good. They look just like the picture. I didn’t have a big enough food processor so I used my KitchenAid mixer to mix. It got it at a perfect consistency. So good. Oh my goodness.
Lovely. Thank you
Great recipe!! First time I made it my bagels came out flat and super dense. After reviewing the ingredients, I had put too much cheese and my baking powder was expired! So I went out to get new baking powder and followed the recipe exactly – including letting the bagels completely cool off. They turned out perfect! Crumb is dense but fluffy! I actually like a bigger bagel size, so i think i might make 6 instead of 8 next time. I brought one in and cut up samples for my coworkers and they all liked it too – enough to say they’d pay for me to make a batch once a week! =)
One thing I would say is that I prefer a crunchier exterior (I’m a NYer so I’m picky with my bagels) – so I tried broiling to see if that helps and it does! I will also try the toaster b/c at home we don’t have a toaster oven.
Now I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
My son in law had been buying expensive keto bagels. I made these for him and he was blown away. Asked me to make him a dozen for a birthday gift! Of course I did more than that, but there is no better compliment!
I just went low-carb a few weeks ago and while I love eggs and cottage cheese for breakfast, I was missing having more portable options. This recipe turned out great. They look just like little bagels but obviously have a different texture. They were bread-like but were a bit more flaky rather than chewy like a traditional bagel. By my calculations, they are closer to 300 cal each if you split it into 8 bagels but they are packed with protein (17 g) and low carb (8 g). They provide an excellent vehicle for cream cheese. They were simple to make but the dough is rather wet. The suggestion to spray hands with oil before handling the dough made it much simpler. My son who is trying to pack on muscle for his upcoming sports season also enjoyed them. Thank you for the recipe!
My husband couldn’t believe these were keto! So good!
So delicious! I had not anticipated how good they would be. With no time to toast it before running the office, I ate it room temp within a couple of hours of baking, with some cream cheese and was quite pleasantly surprised. I’ll be making these regularly and sharing with others.
Truly the best keto bagel recipe I’ve ever tasted. I thought it would not be chewy but it was perfect.
The perfect low carb bagel does exist! I followed the recipe as written.
VERY good bagels. I had two as soon as they were done cooling! I made 3 types: Plain, everything (I used the trader joe’s everything but the bagel seasoning), and cheddar. The everything and cheddar ones were spectacular!! I paired them with chive/onion cream cheese, and jalapeno honey cream cheese, respectively. After putting them in the toaster they were delightfully crunchy on the outside! I would say they are 90% like an actual bagel, so, so good. Amazing recipe! Thank you so much!
Its many healthy fats, nice, healthy. Perfect snack for my keto friend!
These are amazing! Not exactly like regular, but close enough that it’s worth it to keep my blood sugar from getting elevated.
Fantastic. Really fills a void caused by my diabetes. Soft pretzel recipe also. Thank you!!